


The Recessive Gene That Changed Everything

by MMForeverNerd



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: BAMF Danny, Gen, Good Vlad, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:21:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27125123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MMForeverNerd/pseuds/MMForeverNerd
Summary: College was when most kids found themselves. Danny didn't think that this was something he was going to find out about himself though. This was something that could definitely ruin his life.
Relationships: Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton, Maddie Fenton/Vlad Masters
Comments: 3
Kudos: 77





	The Recessive Gene That Changed Everything

The doctor told him it was an extremely rare type of anemia, that he had to have two sets of the recessive gene that carried it, and that stress had triggered its activation. They wanted to do a wide variety of tests before discharging him, but Danny Fenton made sure that did not happen. It was bad enough when he had collapsed during class that his professor had taken him to the E.R. He was lucky the doctor who ran the test had suspected what it was and hadn’t found any other abnormalities in his blood work. He was also very lucky this had cropped up now that he was in college and not when he was in high school, or he would have no chance of hiding it from his friends and family.

When Danny made it clear he wanted to be discharged without any more tests being run, the Doctor had looked worried, but gave him a prescription that should help. Danny had promised to get in contact with his own doctor to do a follow up and make sure the issue was not progressing any more. Instead he would just sneak into his parent’s lab or the school lab. He only dared used his parents lab if he couldn’t use the school resources. He was going into the field of biology anyway, so he used the universities library to read up on the disorder.

A lot of things started making sense, and he wondered if he would have had a collapse allot sooner if he didn’t change into a ghost so frequently. Once Danny had started a regimen of the prescription and diet changes, he felt less lethargic, had improved concentration, and generally felt better, so much in fact he was surprised he hadn’t noticed how bad he had been off until he collapsed. He found out he was lucky his professor had taken him to the hospital, and that the doctor had thought to test for it, because without treatment the disease was terminal. That got Danny scared; worrying about his sister and the family she was hoping to have with her husband in the next few years. What if she had the disorder, or what if her husband carried the recessive trait as well? Danny was terrified his soon to be niece or nephew might have the same disorder, the same illness.

It just so happened the school was offering a class over the summer that would fit with Danny’s degree, his schedule, and would give him a plausible excuse for his sudden interest in their family’s genetics. He told them all it was an extra credit project, and it was. Danny had cleared it with his professor, the same one who had taken him to the hospital. So Danny convinced his sister, his parents, and his brother-in-law to give him blood samples. His brother-in-law didn’t have the allele for the gene, which was a relief, still he ran his sister’s just to make sure she didn’t have the disease. It was doubtful but he checked. Except, his sister didn’t even have the allele for it. Danny had run the test twice. Then ran his own blood, his popped up with two recessive alleles and Jazz had none.

Danny knew basic first year biology, so he began to suspect what he would find, suspected but hoped he would be wrong. His mother did have one recessive form of the gene, which meant he had gotten hers but both parents needed to donate the recessive gene for a child, Danny, to have the disease. The problem was Jack Fenton did not have the recessive form of the disease; he had two dominant forms of the healthy gene. Biologically this meant his dad was not actually his dad. He had run it by his professor, since the man was very interested in his project, had even talked to the school board so his project could substitute for other parts of the class since it was such a rare opportunity for the school. His professor had gone over his labs, checked every step, and then just shook his head, “I’m sorry Danny, but with this, I don’t believe Jack Fenton is your biological father.”

That had been hard to deal with, but he didn’t want to bring it up to his parents. What if his dad didn’t know his mom had been unfaithful? What if Jack hated him because Danny wasn’t his real son? He still hadn’t even told them about him being Half-ghost and now he had an even bigger secret, one that was an even heavier burden. After a long weekend and some time to think, he had found a renewed interest. He remembered his mom saying once she had gone to a convention shortly before she got pregnant with Danny. She had been telling how she used her hangover from that overindulgence from then as an excuse for why she hadn’t been drinking to keep her pregnancy hidden for a while from Danny’s grandparents so she could surprise them with the exciting news. He knew it was a stretch, but it was the only lead he had.

Danny’s professor was so invested in the excitement of the mystery; he even helped Danny come up with a plan of action and got the list of attendants to the convention. Thankfully it had only been about a hundred names, and some they hadn’t needed to call because of ethnicity and other markers. His professor called all potential men on the list and said they were doing a free blood screening for a select number of individuals for the disease, and that their research had shown them they might have a recessive form of the disease. Danny didn’t want to know the names yet, partly because it helped eliminate any potential bias towards a subject and because they were toeing the line of acceptable research practices with the university.

Out of all the men they had gotten samples from, only one had the recessive trait. There was still a chance that one of the men that didn’t give a sample, or were no longer alive could still be his biological father. Hell it could have been someone completely different, but there was also a very strong chance Unknown patient M was his biological father. Especially as his Professor kept reiterating, “This is such a rare gene! Only about one in a million people are even carriers!”

Danny knew his professor would tell him the name of the unknown, but he waited until he was almost done with his paper before he asked for the name. His professor gave him an envelope, with the contents inside and Danny didn’t know if he had the heart to open it yet. A part of him had still been thinking that maybe somehow Jack Fenton was still his father. A few nights later, he was staring at the envelope at two in the morning, when he had an idea. He could never write about it for the school, but maybe, just maybe there was an explanation for why his DNA didn’t quite match his Dad’s now. That thought made him wince because if he really wanted to know if that was possible there was only one person who might have the answer.

Vlad had become less evil over the years. By evil Danny meant he stopped trying to kill his dad, steal his mom, or somehow force him to be his apprentice slash son. They even occasionally had pleasant conversations on Sunday nights when his sister hosted a family get together. Danny knew when Jazz started inviting Vlad to them that the man must have really turned over a new leaf, but it was still hard for Danny to even think about asking him for help or information. The worst part was that he had Vlad’s number, and he knew Vlad would give him the information if he asked, but he would have to ask. Despite his trepidation, the next day, he finally steeled himself to make the call, and Vlad answered on the second ring, “Hello?”

Danny swallowed, “Hey Vlad.”

Danny had rehearsed it, tried to make it sound casual, like oh, no big deal. He didn’t fool anyone, “Daniel? Is everyone alright?”

The older man sounded panicked, and Danny winced, because Danny didn’t call Vlad, ever. Despite Vlad having given him his personal cell number over a year ago, and again on more than one occasion since, “Uh, everything’s fine actually, it’s just I…”

Danny had pulled on his hair, he had rehearsed this but he was still mucking it up so bad. Vlad would probably gloat if he were there in person, but after a deep breath he steeled himself to try again, glad Vlad seemed inclined to let him get his words out before responding, “Right, so I think Jazz mentioned to you this project I’m working on for school, and I was wanting to get your expertise on one particular aspect before I submit it.”

Vlad didn’t sound like he was gloating, but he did sound surprised, “Of course, I’m afraid I’m in the middle of a meeting right now. Can it wait until five o’clock? I will be off then and we could discuss it over dinner.”

Danny winced, he hadn’t thought about that. Vlad might seem like he had all the time in the world, but he did still had several multimillion dollar companies to run. He didn’t really want to have dinner with Vlad, but at least he might get a free meal even if this all went bad, “Oh, yeah it can wait.”

“Good, I’ll text you the details later.”

Then Vlad hung up. Danny went to the lab and while he was waiting on some tests to finish up he started proof reading his thesis paper, double checking every fact and source, making sure everything was clear and easy to read while also being at the appropriate college reading level. He ignored the text he had received from Vlad, until it was past four and he couldn’t focus on the paper any more. He saved it to his laptop and then tucked that and his lab papers into his bag before heading to the restaurant. He could have gotten there in just a few minutes if he flew, but sometimes walking helped clear his head when he was really stressed.

He still arrived a few minutes before five, but felt the need to double check the address Vlad had texted him. He should have known the man would choose some fancy upscale place, and Danny glanced down at his clothes. He at least wasn’t in sweats, but he still had his lab coat on, and he really didn’t think he would be let in to this place. He had heard it was one of those suit and tie required places. It was right about five though, and if he didn’t at least try then he would probably lose his nerve, and Danny needed to know for his own sanity. He walked up to the door, and jumped a bit when it opened just as he was about to grab the handle. There was a man in a very fancy looking suite who gave a questioning look, “Daniel Fenton?”

Danny put his hand down, realizing he had frozen, still reaching out for the handle, “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

The man smiled, wide and clearly forced, “Perfect, you are right on time, please do come in. The table is set and ready, though Mr. Master’s did call ahead to explain he might be just a few minutes late.”

The man lead him into a dark dining area, past several servers that were dressed to the nines, all smiling a bit too much for him to be comfortable. They went into a back room that had a bit more light coming in, but Danny was a bit freaked out by how he didn’t see anyone else sitting in any of the booths they passed. Then one of the servers was pulling out a chair for him and he was being handed three menus. The server started telling him all about the chief’s main dish and then he was being told what wine paired best with which dish. Danny forced a small smile and nodded occasionally but he had no idea what most of the dishes even were. When the server finally seemed to come to the end of the spiel he stood waiting for Danny to react, and he felt like he was being put on the spot, “That, uh, all sounds great, for now can I just get some water while I make a decision.”

The waiter gave an even more false smile, and Danny got the impression the man was probably only doing it because of Vlad, but he nodded, “Of course.”

Danny turned his gaze to the menu and was trying to sound out the words a bit in his head. He had thought learning the names of bacteria and anatomy had been hard, but this clearly had to be French or some foreign language. He had only gotten a few lines in when the door to the room opened and Danny was actually thankful it wasn’t the server, “Daniel, I am terribly sorry. I hope you haven’t been here waiting very long.”

The man from before had rushed in to pull the billionaire’s chair out. He had started to offer menu’s and Danny wondered if he was going to go over everything again, but then Vlad was ordering, and yeah, that had to be French. Of course Vlad knew French, “And Daniel, is there anything specific you would like to try.”

Danny glared at the man, who gave a small smirk for half a second before saying more to the man who took the menus from Danny and left. Danny checked to make sure no other servers where in the room before glaring at Vlad, “Seriously? Can you not just pick a regular restaurant?”

Vlad smirked a bit then shook his head, “I didn’t intentionally plan this to make you uncomfortable Daniel. I just already had plans to eat here. The chief special today is one of my favorites. Besides Daniel, I’m sure a bit of culture won’t hurt you.”

Danny clenched his hands around the strap of his bag, then snapped, “I’ll have you know I work with quite allot of cultures, in fact just yesterday I was working with one that if slipped into someone’s bloodstream could kill even you.”

The smirk actually fell away, “I didn’t know they let first year undergrad students work with anything like that.”

Danny rolled his eyes, “They don’t, but that’s a completely different subject.”

Vlad nodded, “Yes, I imagine it must be, because I don’t have much expertise on microbiology. So Daniel…”

He was cut off by the door opening and three servers came in. Danny leaned back as several plates were set in front of him, and then there were two glasses of wine placed in front of him as well along with the glass of water he had requested. The servers left as fast as they had come in and Danny now had soup, some type of what he was going to say was salad since that was the closest he could think of. There were also several different kinds of bread and cheese in the middle of the table between them. Danny noticed that Vlad had a different colored soup, but otherwise everything was the same.

Danny had a feeling he was going to end up going to pick some normal food up after this, “Do I want to know what any of this is?”

“Just try it Daniel, we can talk after.”

Vlad had already started eating, and was delicately picking up the odd leaves with his fork. Danny hesitantly took a few bites of it, it wasn’t the worst thing he had ever eaten but without any type of dressing he felt he might as well be eating grass. He moved to grab the glass of water, but Vlad shook his head, “The red wine is paired with that dish for a reason.”

Danny resisted rolling his eyes, “I can’t drink Vlad.”

Vlad had only really been paying him partial attention before, but apparently his voice must have had something in it that had the man’s undivided attention. Danny took a drink of his water and when he set it down Vlad frowned, “I know you are twenty-one Daniel, I was at your party.”

Danny shrugged and picked up a spoon to test out the soup, which was a weird off white color and looked a bit thick. If he weren’t at such a ritzy place he would think it was some sort of potato soup. The taste confirmed it was definitely not potato, but it was at least better than the odd leaves so he took a second bight. Vlad had returned to his own meal thankfully, and Danny knew he would have to come up for some cover soon. It’s not like he was going to tell anyone, oh hey, alcohol doesn’t mix well with the prescription I have to take to not die, and I would rather not have to go back to the E.R. if possible. Danny didn’t drink too much of the soup because he could tell it was pretty salty but then he was faced with the odd assortment of bread and cheese.

Thankfully Vlad seemed to finish up, or at least be finished enough to allow conversation again, “So Daniel, what exactly is it you wished to get my expertise on? I’m afraid besides knowing in general about this big assignment of yours I didn’t actually catch many specifics.”

Danny glanced back at the closed door, they were alone and he was pretty sure no one could overhear their conversation from this distance, “Right, well I won’t bore you with too many details and instead just get straight to the point. I’m working on a genetics assignment and ran into a bit of a snare. I know you’ve had allot more time and research put into learning about…” Danny made a gesture between Vlad and himself, “And I was hoping maybe you might have an idea. I have a hypothesis that might explain the anomaly I’ve come across, and though clearly I’m not going to use it for my paper, I would like to know.”

The older Halfa was staring at him like he would learn all Danny’s secrets if he just looked hard enough, “You have my interest piqued tell me more about this anomaly and your hypothesis that might explain it.”

Danny had definitely said too much, and had to resist cursing as he stalled by taking a drink of his water. Once he had he spoke carefully measuring every word he spoke, “Well I can’t really go into too much detail, but…” Danny licked his lips nervously, then decided to stop trying to toe around the issue, he had already said to much, he should just get to the point, “I know the accident introduced new genetic material that fused with my regular DNA to allow me to… exist as I do now, but could some of that material have had an effect on the alleles of my human DNA?”

When Danny looked up Vlad’s expression seemed to be all over the place, before he seemed to get the look the younger Halfa had learnt meant he was thinking about a complex problem. The brunette felt his anxiety grow with every second the silence continued and he unconsciously put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat, tensing when they came in contact with one of the tubes from Unknown M he had snuck out. He was pretty sure he had relaxed again though by the time Vlad spoke, “It is hard to say anything with a hundred percent certainty in regards to this particular subject, but I can tell you in all of my research I haven’t seen any sign that the ectoplasm would have made any changes to your human half. Mostly because it was only ectoplasm introduce, not anything close to human genes.”

Danny tried not to show how much that hurt, his last hope going down the drain. He had known it was a very long shot, and had suspected he knew the answer, but he had been hoping that maybe, maybe he could explain it away and not have to open the envelope. He took a steadying breath, “Right that does match up with what I’ve found so far.”

Vlad raised an eyebrow, “If that’s the case then why ask me? You certainly have never asked for my help before, especially on a matter that is clearly more personal in nature than you seem willing to admit.”

Danny made the mistake of meeting the older man’s eyes. Vlad’s expression might say curiosity, but his eyes were worried and clearly very concerned. Danny had to break the eye contact quickly, looking away would surely just add to everything, make it all more suspicious, but he felt so vulnerable right now. It was like suddenly the knowledge was sinking in and he didn’t think he could face it. Danny tilted his head farther to the side, closing his eyes and hoping Vlad hadn’t noticed…”Daniel?”

His voice was too soft, there was too much concern and Danny just… he just broke. He tried to hide his face with his hand, but Vlad had gotten to his feet and was pulling the younger Halfa to his chest, clearly doing his best to calm Danny down, the younger Halfa shifted nervously, “Daniel, it’s going to be okay. I’m not sure what is going on but I’m sure it will all work out.”

He was using such a soft voice, a voice Danny had never heard the man use before. If someone had ever tried to tell him that Vlad would be a person he would turn to for comfort, he would have told them only if everyone he loved had died. Except Vlad was comforting him, one of his hands combing through Danny’s hair gently, another running up and down his back. Danny buried his head into the man’s shoulder to hide his wet cheeks and because it was a comfort, something that helped right then when he felt like he had just had a bleeding wound open up in his gut, one that he couldn’t heal with ghost abilities.

Danny wasn’t sure how long they stood like that before he stopped crying. The worst part was he knew it was more from exhaustion then from actually getting himself sorted out. When he finally started to pull back, he suddenly felt like his legs were giving out. It wasn’t until Vlad was helping him back into his chair that he realized he must not have taken his pill. He was supposed to take it earlier with lunch, but he had been calling Vlad and suddenly didn’t think he had remembered. His hands were shaking though even as he moved to open his bag, trying to undo the clasp even as he was starting to panic. Vlad seemed to either read his mind or just be smart enough to realize something was going on because he unfastened the hook, “What are you looking for Daniel?”

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, “Pill bottle, it’s probably at the bottom, it’s always at the bottom.”

Vlad emptied the bag out on the table, and then snatched up the orange prescription bottle with the white lid. He handed Danny his water as he opened the cap and poured one of the capsules onto his hands. Danny took the pill and hoped this didn’t turn out as bad as it could, since that first trip to the hospital he had taken his pills without fail every day, three times a day at around the same time, especially after learning what even a single skipped dose could lead to. He waited a few minutes, and he could tell Vlad was trying not to show how panicked Danny was making him. Finally the world stopped spinning and he let out a small sigh of relief, he would need to add a secondary alarm on his phone now to make sure he didn’t ignore the first one. He would have to run blood work again, and hope he was still stable.

“Daniel, why do you have a prescription for a drug that’s only recently been FDA certified?”

Danny blinked his eyes opened, then winced when he saw Vlad holding his pills in one hand and his phone in the other. Thankfully the drug was also used for a whole list of things, so it wasn’t like the first thing that popped up would explain everything. Though at this point, he might as well tell Vlad cause the Halfa wasn’t about to let this go, and the brunette knew he would figure it out eventually on his own. Maybe if Danny told him he wouldn’t tell his family, “I’m sick.”

Vlad set the bottle down and slipped back into his chair, his jaw tense and eyes worried, like when he was watching the Packers lose a match, his voice was demanding, “How sick?”

Danny sighed, “Can you… can you not tell anyone? Nobodies knows, except my professor, and I would prefer to keep it that way.”

Vlad’s eyes were searching his, but after a moment he nodded, “If that means you will tell me what’s going on, then I will keep it to myself for now.”

That was really more than he had expected, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which was getting long enough he could pull it back during lab activities, “It’s treatable, otherwise I wouldn’t be taking those, but it’s the kind of treatment I’ll need to keep up on for the rest of my life. It’s manageable though.”

Vlad clearly was trying to connect the dots, and Danny decided he may as well just get it all out on the table, since his bag had already been emptied on it anyway, “It’s a type of Anemia, and it’s pretty rare because unless you have two recessive alleles with the disease you won’t ever get it. You’re more likely to get struck by lightning or win the lottery than to get it.”

Vlad’s thoughts were raising like when he was introduced to a new puzzle he hadn’t been expecting, the brunet thought he could almost hear the cogs turning, “Is Jasmine at risk of getting this?”

Danny shook his head, “No, that’s why I took this class in the first place, so I’d have a reason to check. She isn’t even a carrier for the disease, so no chance that she or any of her children will get it.”

The young Halfa could see the moment it clicked, Vlad had put it together, “That would mean that most likely she has different biological parents than you though.”

Danny let out a snort that didn’t hold an ounce of humor, “Mom is a carrier for it.”

Vlad shook his head, “Your father?”

Danny looked at the table, spotting the envelope that he almost wanted to burn, “It does actually explain a bit, I mean my Da… my dad kept thinking I was going to hit a growth spurt. I might not be as short as I was but I’m far shorter than a real Fenton.”

Vlad looked sad then, which Danny hadn’t expected, “Is this why you haven’t told anyone about your illness.”

Danny shrugged, “That and I didn’t want to worry anyone.”

The billionaire took a deep breath and let it out before he asked his next question, “Do you have any idea who it might be?”

Danny leaned forward and grabbed the still sealed envelope, “I have a potential candidate but I was only testing for the one trait. Running a paternity test at the university would probably make me less likely to get the research grant.” Danny pulled out the vile in his pocket, “I snuck a sample out though today, so I might be able to know for sure in a few days if I can convince my parent to not mess with the equipment. Of course it could turn out to be someone completely different and I might not ever know.”

Danny chanced glancing up at the older Halfa, and was surprised by what he saw. The man looked like he was processing another complex problem and didn’t like what he was seeing, “Who… What…What’s the name of this potential candidate?”

Danny almost laughed at the way Vlad was acting because it was so rare for him to ever get tongue tied, but then he was looking at the envelop. He might as well put a real name to unknown M. Vlad was watching him very intently as he opened the envelope and pulled out the folded piece of computer paper. Danny unfolded it, and then just stared at it in shock for a very long moment. After at least a full minute had gone by he glanced up at the older Halfa, “Where you at a conference in Colorado about twenty three years ago?”

Vlad looked shocked by the question, but not too shocked. Danny watched as he opened and closed his mouth nearly a dozen times before he finally gasped out, “I did have too much to drink that night, but… but…”

The older Halfa ran his hand through his hair, pulling several strands loose before he finally looked Danny in the eye, “I had no idea, I just assumed… with your birthdate, I thought it wasn’t possible… that night was rather hazy for me, I barely even remember your mother showing up before I blacked out.”

Danny gave a nod, though he wasn’t sure why, he was still having trouble coming to terms with this new information. He felt like he should be freaking out, or reacting in some way that wasn’t just calm realization, “I was really premature. They didn’t even know if I was going to make it.”

Vlad seemed to have processed whatever it was he was trying to figure out because suddenly he was focused on Danny, looking at the younger man like he had never seen him before. Danny just stared back, trying to gauge the man’s reaction. Vlad shook his head, “How did I never… you have my mother’s nose, I don’t know how I ever missed it.”

Danny felt his gut tighten, “Technically we don’t know for sure yet.”

Vlad snorted, “You think your mother slept with some stranger at that convention?”

Danny finally felt the calm retreat as he pulled at his hair, “I don’t know, I just found out she apparently cheated on my dad and slept with you! I have no idea what to think anymore.”

Vlad winced, “Technically it wasn’t cheating, you father was aware of the situation.”

Danny covered his ears and closed his eyes tightly so he wouldn’t accidently lip read, “Oh my God, we aren’t talking about this.”

The older Halfa let out a sigh before gently pulling Danny’s hands away from his ears, “this actually explains how you survived the portal accident Daniel. I don’t know why I never thought of it.”

“What are you talking about?”

Vlad winced, “After I found out you were a Halfa, I thought to try and predict how strong you might grow to be some day. Of course it was easy to get the blueprints for the portal, but it took me a while to figure out exactly how it happened. Jazz actually told me the details a while back and I was shocked, I ran the calculations hundreds of times, even tried to factor in variables like shortages in the wiring or perhaps the hazmat suit you were wearing, but every one, every potential simulation I could think of lead to you dying. The amount of electricity that went through you would have killed you before any ectoplasm was released from the portal forming. I didn’t think that you might have already had some ectoplasm in your body, because I didn’t think, I never thought…. But that would make the simulation work. It’s still a close call but, but it’s possible. How did I never realize it? It was so obvious!”

Danny was pretty sure most of that was just Vlad thinking out loud so he managed to tune him out for a while as he continued to list all the signs he felt a fool for not seeing before. Danny tuned back in when Vlad snapped, “I am going to have to call your parents, I suspect they have known.”

“What?” Vlad had pulled his phone out again, and Danny reached across the table to grab it with shaking hands, to stop him as he snapped, “No! You can’t call them! What even makes you think they might know, because I’m pretty sure they don’t?”

Vlad had grabbed his wrist before Danny could even grab at the phone and then he couldn’t pull his arm back all the way, “Daniel, you look a bit pale. Is that blood?”

Danny reached up with his other hand to touch his nose. That had been the last thing he remembered happening before he had collapsed last time, “Shit, I can’t afford another trip to the E.R.”

Vlad stood up, “Daniel, I am your father! You can afford to go to the E.R.”

Danny opened his mouth to say something only to be suddenly lifted up like he weighed nothing at all, “What are you doing?” Vlad didn’t answer, he was marching towards the exit almost at a run, “Wait my stuff.”

Vlad didn’t even slow down, “We can come back for it later, what E.R. do you need to go to?”

Danny felt a bit dizzy as Vlad shouted at the Valle to hurry. He knew that probably wasn’t good, “I went to community, well I mean my professor took me to community. It’s really not this big of a deal Vlad, I can go on my own. You haven’t even finished your dinner.”

The Valle pulled in and Vlad finally set him down in the front seat. As if this whole thing wasn’t mortifying enough, the man buckled him in before he raced around the car. Vlad pulled out like a bat out of hell, “I’m quite certain that you are not in fact a medical professional Daniel, so you aren’t exactly equipped to tell me if it’s a big deal or not. What happened last time? God, I thought you said this was treatable!”

Danny winced at how loud Vlad was yelling, “It wasn’t that big a deal, just a couple IV’s and a blood transfusion.”

The steering will made a crack from how tight the older Halfa was gripping the steering wheel, “A blood transfusion is very serious Daniel, especially if community hospital gave you one.”

Danny gave up arguing with him because his nose was bleeding allot now and he was going to have to use so much bleach to get this out of his Lab coat. Vlad glanced over at him, probably because Danny normally wouldn’t just let a statement like that go, “Daniel I really think I should call your parents. I know you are worried, but Jack is still your dad, and as much as he annoys me most of the time, I know him well enough that you will always be his son. That man loves you far too much to care about whether or not you are biologically his. More importantly this is not something you should be hiding from them; eventually they will find out because this isn’t something you can hide like your ghost half, and if you keep it all a secret for much longer they are going to be devastated that you didn’t trust them with this, that you have been hiding this from them.”

Despite being pretty light headed, he still was thinking clear enough to know Vlad made some good points. He was still terrified though, despite that he sighed with resignation, “Alright.”

The word had barely left his mouth and Vlad had the Bluetooth dialing his mom, and for a second Danny thought she wasn’t going to pick up, “Oh, yes, hello?”

“Maddie, I am with Daniel right now, we are about a minute from community hospital, he’s sick and may need a blood transfusion.”

“What? What are you talking about, is he okay?” she pulled her mouth from the speaker to likely yell down the stairs, but it was loud enough it carried through the phone, “JACK! We need to meet Vlad at the hospital!” There was the sound of a crash and some indistinguishable yelling, “Vlad, is Danny alright?”

Danny swallowed, “Mom, I’m okay, I just….”

Vlad interrupted, “He’s not okay, but he will be. I will explain when you get here, but I’m finally pulling into the E.R. now.”

Danny was pretty sure Vlad had to have been going at least twenty over to have gotten here this fast, and when he came to a screeching halt Danny was glad for the seatbelt. Vlad didn’t even take his keys out of the ignition, he was around the car in seconds and quickly pulled Danny out of the car, running him into the E.R. Danny had half a second to think how Vlad’s one of a kind prize car was probably going to get stolen just before the young Halfa lost consciousness, caving into the blackness.

Danny did not like waking up in the hospital. The lights were so bright, everything was so loud, and it generally meant things were not good if you woke up in one. He tried to reach to pull the oxygen off. He hated how it felt in his nose, but stopped when he felt his reaching pull at an IV secured into his arm, “Ow.”

“Danny?”

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

She sounded so scared, what had happened? His mom didn’t answer him right away, instead she shouted, “He’s awake!”

Danny forced himself to open his eyes, despite how much the lights hurt. He was definitely in a hospital bed that was certain, and before he could really process much more a familiar figure came in and was shining a light in his eyes, “Doctor Young?”

The man grinned, “That’s a good sign. Tell me Danny what’s the last thing you remember?”

That was a good question, “Oh, shit, I didn’t take my pill at lunch.”

The doctor nodded, “I was hoping that was what you were going to say.”

Danny frowned, “That I forgot to take my meds?”

The doctor shook his head, “I’m not glad that you forgot and ended up here because of it, but I am glad that you’re not in here because you’re getting worse. Though I think just to be on the safe side I’m going to write you a script for double the dose. Don’t forget to take them again, okay.”

Danny snorted, “Definitely not gonna forget again, I mean nothing personal but I don’t like seeing you.”

The Doctor laughed really loud at that, then shook his head, “That’s fair, I don’t like seeing you here either, now I’m afraid this time I have to insist on you staying for at least another twenty four hours.” Danny opened his mouth, “No buts, we can’t release you until we are certain you are stable.”

Then the doctor closed the curtain behind him and Danny realized that he was not alone in the hospital this time, and he did not like the looks he was getting.

Danny gave a nervous smile, “Mom, Jazz…”

He was going to try and explain but his sister stood up, “Daniel Fenton I could ring your neck right now!”

Danny thought she was going to do just that, she looked angry enough, then she started sobbing, and the young Halfa would have much rather been forced to deal with the anger because he couldn’t handle this, “Oh God, Jazz, I’m sorry, please don’t cry.”

His mom had stood from where she was sitting next to him to pull his sister into a hug, “I hate these hormones!”

Danny frowned, but his mom just patted her back, “I know sweetie. Jack, dear, do you have any snacks.”

Danny hadn’t noticed his Dad, despite how hard to miss the virtual giant was, he had never seen him so quiet and forlorn, sitting in the darkest corner of the room, slumped in on himself. He pulled out a snicker’s bar from one of his pockets and he had never seen his sister eat something so fast. Once she had, she seemed to calm down fractionally, “thanks guys.”

Maddie smiled, “Maybe you should go check out the cafeteria, see what they have.”

Jazz nodded, but then turned to glare at Danny, “Don’t think me leaving means your off the hook Danny!”

Danny winced and she left without another word, “What?”

His mom laughed, “She wanted to tell you herself, but your sister is expecting. Though she is right, you are not off the hook Daniel” his mom sat down next to him again and took his hand, and then the redheaded mother of two was tearing up a bit, “Why didn’t you tell any of us Danny?”

Danny opened his mouth but before he could explain his mom shook her head, “I mean I understand to a point the ghost situation,” She whispered those last two words and Danny felt like his stomach had just been ripped out, “But this” she gestured at the hospital room, “What possible reason could you have for not telling us?”

“Uh, I’m not sure I know what you mean by that first part.”

His mom tightened her grip on his hand, “Vlad and Jazz told us everything, and I am so sorry Danny, I should have never left the door to the lab unlocked when there was something so dangerous down there, and left it plugged in like that. It’s inexcusable behavior, us putting you in that kind of danger. I just never thought… but we can talk more about that later, for now, why didn’t you tell us when you first got sick?”

Danny couldn’t look his mom in the eye right then; he was still reeling but had enough sense to wait to freak out about him being outed as a freak. He swallowed, “I just didn’t want to worry you guys, especially Jazz, and… and I didn’t want anything to change.”

“Honey, this isn’t a big change, and yes, we are going to worry, but… if Vlad hadn’t called, if you had gotten here just a couple hours later, you could have died. They couldn’t believe you survived the first collapse, and this one was worse. My baby boy could have died and I would have had no idea he had even been sick.”

His mom started crying in earnest then, making Danny panic and flail about as much as he could without hurting himself, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please don’t cry. It’s going to be okay mom. I’m going to put like a hundred reminders on my phone, and you heard the doctor, he thinks with this new dosage I will be fine.”

His mom pulled him into a hug then, very careful not to disturb any of the many things he was hooked too. He was guessing it was really bad, since last time they hadn’t hooked him to nearly as many machines. The hug seemed to reassure his mom, calming her down so she could wipe her face, “No more secrets between us, okay?”

Danny nodded then when she pulled back, sitting back down in her chair, she looked to her husband, “That being said, it appears you found out our secret. I should have known you would, your just too smart for your own good, smarter than we ever gave you credit for, even more recently.”

She ran her hands over his hair, trying to tame it with no luck at all, “Do you remember the reunion? I think it was your freshman year,” Danny nodded and she continued, “Part of why we wanted to go so bad was to get some of Vlad’s DNA so I could run a paternity test. Jack didn’t want to know either way for a long time, but by the time you were twenty he knew without having to ask me to tell him. We were never trying to hide that from you Danny, we just were afraid if Vlad found out he would take you away from us, and we didn’t think we could ask you to keep silent if you found out the truth. All it would take for Vlad to hear about it was a single reporter or greedy Gus overhearing and then we would have lost our little boy. Vlad had all the money and power, if he wanted to take you from us he could with that knowledge and we wouldn’t have been able to do anything to stop him.”

Danny frowned, “But, why not say something when I turned eighteen or moved into the dorms?”

His mom glanced over at the corner, “Jack? Maybe… maybe you should answer this one.”

His dad nodded, and he looked older than Danny had ever seen him, his brows drawn together and clear distress written on every part of his expression, “Right. Part of it Danny was we didn’t know how you would react to finding out about our relationship.”

Danny frowned, “What about your relationship?”

Jack looked to Maddie who smiled, “Your father and I don’t exactly have a conventional marriage Danny. We don’t feel the need to be exclusive in the bedroom, though we normally try to keep it quiet, this was not exactly an isolated incident.”

His mom looked like she was gearing up to say more, “Ew, no I don’t need to know any more details.” At her little sigh he added, “I’m just saying I don’t want to know details about, any of that. I don’t care who is involved I just don’t want details. You are all consenting adults and all that, and my parents. I do not want to know any more details about my parents’ sex lives.”

Danny shuttered but his mom smiled and then looked to his dad who sighed, “We also didn’t want to tell you because we worried… I worried, that… that maybe you would prefer Vlad be your dad, that you would rather have him over me. It’s no excuse though, we should have just told you, you should have had the right to make that choice much sooner.”

Danny felt his eyes widen, “What? No! You can’t really believe…” Danny took a deep breath, “That was why I didn’t say anything when I realized the biological evidence indicated you were not my biological father like I always thought you were, because I will always think of you as my dad, and I was worried that you… that you… wouldn’t…”

Danny bit his lip and tried to wipe his face before they could see, but his dad had looked up in time to catch it. Suddenly his Dad was standing, and despite his bulk he was so very gentle as he desperately hugged Danny, “You’ll always be my son, I love you so much Danny-boy.”

Danny tried to hug his dad back, though he only had one arm not hooked to an IV and it was hooked to a blood pressure cuff that seemed to go off every other minute or so. After a long time his dad finally pulled back, but this time he pulled his chair so he was sitting next to Danny so he could hold his hand. Jack didn’t even try to hide the tears on his face, but he was smiling his same old goofy grin, except he still seemed a bit worried. After a while Danny asked, “So Vlad told you everything? About… everything?”

His mom sat up a bit straighter, “Yes, and if it weren’t for your sister defending him and saying that he had changed more recently, I would have put him in the ground, biological father to my son or not. Though I suspect he will be making up for his previous actions for some time, right Jack?”

Danny had never seen that look on his dad’s face and it sent shivers down his spine. He didn’t try to decipher what it meant, just was glad it wasn’t directed at him, “Where is he? I mean, he was so panicked earlier I thought…”

His mom smiled, “Well apparently one of the companies he runs is a big name in pharmaceuticals, particularly in the areas of researching treatments for all sorts of diseases. Very cutting edge stuff, in fact the prescription Doctor Young gave you is a drug that was made by his company, though it wasn’t designed specifically for treating your type of anemia, since it’s so rare. He’s meeting with a group of executives upstairs to set up a collaboration, he thinks maybe in a year or two they might be able to actually cure your disease instead of just treating the symptoms as they have been. Though even I can say that is likely a bit too optimistic, but Vlad will hear no arguments.”

Danny nodded, “Right, that’s… that’s…”

His mom patted his arm, “I suddenly understand everything so much better now. I could never quite figure out why you used to hate Vlad so much, or why you missed curfew or… goodness I wish you would have told us Danny, even if we couldn’t have helped with some of the things you were dealing with, we could have helped you with learning how to manage your time, not that you didn’t manage to do that on your own somehow, but still. We would have never been so hard on you in the beginning if we had any idea what you were going through. Oh and all of our inventions that hurt you, I just feel like we have been the worst parents.”

Danny shook his head, “No, you both have been the best parents. It’s not like you knew about any of that. Also your inventions have actually helped me so much. Didn’t you wonder why so many went missing all the time? The thermos is possible the only reason I survived freshman year before things settled down. I’m just glad… I didn’t know… I worried…”

Danny couldn’t find the right words, but his dad seemed to know what he was thinking, “You worried we wouldn’t be understanding let alone accepting of you being half ghost because we are ghost hunters. We understand that Danny, and we are so sorry that we didn’t make it clear enough that you and Jazz… you two come first, before everything in our lives. If you told us right now that you couldn’t handle our profession with everything, we would both quite, without even a second thought, because if it meant jeopardizing your safety or comfort then it’s not a profession we want a part of.”

His mom reached across the bed and took his hand, “I couldn’t have said it better myself Jack.”

Danny smiled at the way his parents looked at each other, the way they looked at him. If he could he wouldn’t go back and change a thing because in that moment everything seemed right with the world. Apparently it just took him getting a rare disease and using that to deduce his dad wasn’t his biological father and that Vlad was, for everything to finally seem alright. Now if he could just get out of the hospital, he had an assignment to turn in, and he would have to tell his professor about some of this, the man was more invested in this project than Danny was comfortable with.


End file.
